**spoiler alert** I was really surprised when I came to GR and discovered I had read this trilogy before. I read them as the 3 individual books. I sho**spoiler alert** I was really surprised when I came to GR and discovered I had read this trilogy before. I read them as the 3 individual books. I shouldn’t have been surprised because I stay caught up with Natalie Bennett and her ever changing release schedule pretty well.
Even more surprising is that I didn’t remember a single thing about these books. A few elements here and there seemed familiar but the major plot points were completely unfamiliar. I don’t know if I should be embarrassed for my apparently abysmal memory or if Natalie Bennett should be embarrassed for writing an entirely forgettable trilogy.
If you are a regular reader of Natalie Bennett you probably know the score. Lots of mystery, very few answered questions, brash hero who bulldozes the heroine. I’m not complaining. I apparently like all that well enough to read all her books.
This is supposed to be sort of a Romeo and Juliette retelling. I can see some of the similarities but they aren’t huge in the story.
The first and second book take place while the characters are seniors in high school. There’s not really so much bullying as there is bulldozing on the hero’s part. He just swoops in and claims her…sort of.
After having read the entire trilogy (twice, apparently) I can say this doesn’t make a lot of sense. The first book opens on them having sex and you find out it took place 2 years ago, or 1 year ago depending on whichever time the author remembered. It was either 1 or 2 years ago. The heroine, Rhia,doesn’t know his name at the time. He’s wearing a wolf mask. 1 or 2 years later he is quick to let her know it was him that took her vcard.
Now, are either H or h celibate after their tryst? No. Did this irk me? Yes. He slept with 3 girls (author later says 1) while waiting to claim Rhia. Are they important? No. Do we ever discover why he waiting to claim Rhia? No, we do not. We never get a number of partners for Rhia but one was definitely his cousin whom she was dating at the time he finally decides to claim her. The cousin makes a quick exit from the story after that.
At the end of the second book Judas (H) lets Rhia leave him. Why? We never learn this information. They are apart for 7 years. SEVEN. Why? We also never learn this information. Are either celibate during the SEVEN year separation? Nope, of course not. Do any other partners they had during the separation have any bearing on the story? No.
Why?? Just why? Why the separation? Why the lack of celibacy? Huge deal is made about fidelity and staying faithful but not when they are apart. Apart for NO REASON. At least, give us a reason for the separation.
**spoiler alert** 3.5 stars I don't know why I didn't get around to reading this sooner. I've borrowed it from KU multiple times but always ended up to**spoiler alert** 3.5 stars I don't know why I didn't get around to reading this sooner. I've borrowed it from KU multiple times but always ended up tossing it back when my borrows were full and I was trying to grab something else. I know CM Stunich is a good author and I enjoy her writing generally speaking. Once I started finally reading it last night, I didn't want to put it down. This review will contain spoilers, proceed at your own risk. Trigger warning - suicide mentioned further into the review.
It's definitely a compelling story and a premise you don't see often in the romance genre. Overall, I liked the book pretty well. There are definitely a few things I would have changed.
My occasional wariness of CM Stunich is because I sometimes think she overdoes the bullying aspects of her bully romances. I get the bullying is an essential part of a bully romance and I like reading those books but I think she, like many other authors, puts too much into the bullying and not enough into the redemption/grovel. That's true here too. The early bullying we see is pretty vicious and the way this story is written doesn't allow for a grovel per se. We mostly just see the heroine forgiving the guys carte blanche because she's stuck in the time loop and desperate to get out.
The biggest flaw for me was the suicide aspect. Part of her escaping the time loop is STOPPING Pearl from committing suicide. Then she learns that even if Pearl doesn't do it someone else will always die. I think this was a mistake on the authors part. She's supposed to save Pearl from committing suicide but to ultimately end the time loop for herself she has to attempt suicide? That makes LITERALLY no sense. I get she was trying to show some sort of sacrifice but why is this the sacrifice? Why not have her leave town or something. Sacrifice literally anything else.
As much as I enjoyed the overall reading experience, the ending cast a pall over the story for me. I think CM Stunich was stuck for an appropriate ending and went with a bad choice. Don't get me wrong, it's an HEA. The boys "save" her from her suicide attempt and they all get the HEA but even having her attempt suicide felt wrong for this story.
The spice starts around 25% or so. It's sprinkled throughout the story. It's hard to put a burn level on it because the day keeps repeating for her. She literally starts over trying something new each loop.
No condoms No OM drama No real OW drama No cheating Once they finally resolve things there are no breakups or separations.
Safety - on varying days sometimes Calix lets other girls "hang on him" but he's only ever interested in Karma. Karma is the only girl he's ever had sex with. Calix has a stalker who tries to cause trouble but he literally despises her.
**spoiler alert** I had higher hopes for this one. I've seen a lot of buzz about it and theoretically it's right up my alley. However, I'm definitely **spoiler alert** I had higher hopes for this one. I've seen a lot of buzz about it and theoretically it's right up my alley. However, I'm definitely left feeling letdown. The core story itself is pretty interesting but this author has exactly *ZERO* subtlety to her writing. She beats you over the head with every.single.thing. It's also extremely repetitive and goes round and round and round with itself.
"She's mine." "She's nothing and not special." "She's Mine." "She doesn't matter" etc, on and on and on and on and on. I'm NOT exaggerating. It's exhausting and annoying. He's all obsessed with her and "keeping her" but also going on and on and on about how "he can't keep her and they have no future".
All the stuff with his father's abuse and controlling ways is SO heavy handed it becomes completely obnoxious. It was way overdone throughout the entire book.
The MMC is a real gem. He's super obsessive, possessive and controlling. Everything I love in a fictitious man. The MFC is fine. She was a little annoying and unrealistic with the money parts but overall, I didn't mind her. She and the MMC seemed to fit well together with their chemistry.
Fast/Medium burn - They have very dubiously consented spicy times for the first time around 24% but then not again until past 60%, I found that to be weird.
Virgin heroine Manwhore Hero Push away from heroine OW drama OM drama No cheating (see safety note below though) No separation 3rd act breakup at end of book Cliffhanger (but duet is completed already so the next book is available to read immediately)
safety - Near the end his father ambushes him with a engagement he hadn't agreed to. We had met the surprise forced fiancée earlier in the book. He was forced to dance with her and entertain her at a party. She tries to get her hand in his pants and he shuts her down and gets away from her. During their surprise engagement she's obviously happy she's getting what she wants. She hangs all over him and kisses him twice. He doesn't kiss her back but doesn't stop her. I know this will be extremely problematic for some readers. I didn't consider it cheating because he didnt' want to kiss her but some people won't care about that fact and will focus on the fact that a kiss happened even if it was against his will. He *does* "brush his lips against her cheek" during the forced engagement under duress. I personally didn't hold that against him either. ...more
**spoiler alert** I loved The Ritual. Easily one of my top books of 2021 and pretty high up in rank for all time favorites too. Then The Sinner was a **spoiler alert** I loved The Ritual. Easily one of my top books of 2021 and pretty high up in rank for all time favorites too. Then The Sinner was a big letdown. I felt so bad for Ellie and never felt like Sin loved her the way Ryat loved Blakely. It made me put off reading this book when it came out. I do think Tyson ended loving Lake but it still didn’t save this book generally for me.
Spoilers beyond this point. Proceed with caution.
I didn’t really like Tyson. I wanted to like him. He’s definitely a douchebag in the beginning. When he starts being less of a douche I really tried to be open to liking him but he just never won me over.
Lake was just too much of a doormat for me. She had zero personality. She was there to be fucked and objectified.
I think, at the heart of it, this just failed to make sense to me. There are oodles of brief flashbacks that started to grate on my nerves. I fucking hate flashbacks. There was some plot 3 years ago against Tyson. I honestly couldn’t tell you exactly why?? The plot failed, the Lords protected Tyson but he lost his title but got Blackout and the choice of marrying whoever he wanted.
So we’ve got two opposing things. He supposedly marries Laikyn to save her from being sold into trafficking. But he seemingly hates her and wants to humiliate her at every opportunity (that’s how it felt). So which is it? He’s saving her or punishing her for her families attempt at taking him down.
There’s this elaborate plan to sell laikyn into human trafficking but her family and the lords controlled every aspect of her life. They could have done that at any time without some elaborate marriage ruse. They could plucked her up and trafficked her at any time and she couldnt have stopped it. It makes no sense.
Then the sister isn’t really dead and married to the guy she was going to fake marry before he for real sold her into human trafficking and the sister wanted Tyson back though she was married to Luke and Tyson definitely fucking hated her. It makes no sense.
This just really missed the mark for me.
Fast burn, she loses her vcard at 14%. Heavy spice. It’s all very spicy but eventually started to skim some of it because I was bored of it.
Virgin h Manwhore h No push away ( h was massive doormat) Mild OW drama Mild OM drama Sex scenes on page with OW, h SA’d while unconscious on page in flashback by OM No cheating No breakups, h us kidnapped for about a week at one point HEA Epilogue
Safety - not 100% safe. No cheating but we do get flashbacks of H fucking Lake’s sister and getting a BJ from her.
OW makes Lake jealous by telling her she was hooking up with Tyson. She’s lying. Tyson eventually sets her straight much, much later.
**spoiler alert** Whew, it is totally possible for RK to write a book she doesn't completely ruin around 70%. After the last two books, I really began**spoiler alert** Whew, it is totally possible for RK to write a book she doesn't completely ruin around 70%. After the last two books, I really began to doubt it. I mean, God of Malice was pretty amazing but she totally fumbled God of Pain and God of Wra%th, for me anyway. Rina Kent is frustrating to me because she's so inconsistent with her writing.
I had pretty low expectations for Landon. We saw he was apparently a RAGING manwhore in the previous book, so I feared this would be rife with OW drama. It's not! There's a smidge but it's really minor and doesn't play a big role in the story. Even the Landon we see in the beginning of this story wasn't particularly impressive to me. When he started to turn the corner though he won me right over. His obsession and devotion to Mia rolled off the page beautifully. I almost felt sorry for him after she tried to ditch him. I loved his possessiveness and jealousy. He wanted no one else to have her attention.
Mia was an ok heroine. I don't have much patience for "tough" heroines because they are often written so poorly. Mia's "toughness" wasn't over the top beyond the first few chapters.
Near the end when we discover the identity of Mia's kidnapper 11 years ago was typical RK absurdity that made no sense at all. I don't even care at least she didn't fuck this up the way she did books 2 and 3.
Medium burn, there are several foreplay scenes that don't go anywhere earlier in the book (starting around 22%) but they don't bang until 46%
Virgin h MASSIVE former manwhore H No condoms (she's on birth control) No real OW drama No OM drama (but he's super jealous) No sex scenes with others No cheating Small separation when she tries to break up with him HEA Epilogue
Safety - so he was a raging, gross manwhore previously. His slutty endeavors are brought up a few times. We only see one OW he's been with. She comes onto him but he isn't interested. Mia witnesses one such occasion and she runs off angry and jealous. He was a douche in the situation but nothing happened, he seemed to be trying to provoke h but it backfires.
She breaks up with him at 57% but he doesn't really accept it. He immediately starts his campaign to get her back. She goes home for a few days near the end and he follows her. ...more
**spoiler alert** I don’t even remember how long this book has been sitting in my KU borrows. I don’t remember why I picked it up either. I’ve been in**spoiler alert** I don’t even remember how long this book has been sitting in my KU borrows. I don’t remember why I picked it up either. I’ve been in such a reading slump for a frustratingly long time. Despite not really loving this book, I think it might have helped. I’m primarily a dark romance reader but I’ve been avoiding reading my favorite genre with a few exceptions. I apparently have a masochistic streak. I think I just need the dark stuff. I might be broken. All the sweeter romances just end up boring me.
I didn’t love this book but it was okay. If you like DARK romance, this is a solid read - it just missed the mark for me.
This is definitely dark. It’s also definitely not safe. If you need safe reads drop this book and run the other way. I’ll give more specific safety details and spoilers below. Proceed at your own risk.
This is a book about a demon who hates humans. There are too many triggers and content warnings for me to feel comfortable covering them all. The author does give extremely detailed content warning before the book begins so read those first if you have triggers. Maybe read those first before you read this review, it couldn’t hurt.
The heroine here is very sweet and innocent. She’s also very schizophrenic. I don’t think I could imagine a worse match for her than Dimitri. The only thing that makes it plausible is the fated mates stuff.
Dimitri is a demon who literally hates humans. He finds them beneath him. It doesn’t stop him from fucking human women though. The book opens with his first scene fucking a nameless woman to death. She’s already dead when the scene picks up. It’s very descriptive and he has a grand old time. There are two more scenes later after he’s met Emma. One where he fucks another nameless woman to death and one where he’s dug up a corpse to fuck because he doesn’t want the hassle of finding a woman. His demon half knows that Emma is their mate but Dimitri fight against it. He’s also obstinately against jerking off because he feels it’s beneath him. He eventually gets over that once he’s succumbed to the realization he only wants Emma.
Initially Dimitri just doesn’t want anything to do with the human. Eventually after he comes to terms that she’s his mate he holds back not wanting to harm her. Being a demon he’s a giant asshole to her most of the time. He runs hot and cold. Ultimately it was the hot and cold that turned me off. It just got a bit tedious to me and I was bored with his back and forth.
He doesn’t actually end up fucking Emma til past 80% and mating near the very end. All the other sex is either with other women or masturbation/fantasies/hallucinations. This ends on a HFN. There’s no separation between them but it takes a long time for him to give in and claim her. There is apparently another book. I’m intrigued enough to probably read it. ...more
This was surprisingly good. The photo on the cover is pretty but the cover itself is very amateurish looking so I was wary. It was really a 4.25 stars
This was surprisingly good. The photo on the cover is pretty but the cover itself is very amateurish looking so I was wary. It was really a pleasant surprise and I couldn’t put it down.
As an avid reader of dark romance and omegaverse I have an affinity for those big bossy alpha males. I also enjoy a reluctant heroine who needs to be pursued. IF an H is good to h then I’m happy to see him steamroll her into submission. Sometimes though, sometimes H can be a jerk or not particularly kind and then I want h to fight him tooth and nail and to break him. This almost never happens and it’s so frustrating when a jerk H ends up winning over an h he doesn’t deserve.
The author includes a note about why she wrote this and I was there for it. This feisty little omega didn’t back down. Her alphas tried to force her submission but she brought them to their knees instead. After how things started with them I cheered on her every win. These were some deeply remorseful heroes by the time she is done. I hope this one gets the attention it deserves. Would I like every omegaverse to be like this? No, but this one was delicious.
There are triggers here including Noncon be sure to check out all the triggers. The initial claiming of h is noncon and a bit after as the 2 of the Hs try to force her submission to no avail.
There’s no real OW/OM drama or cheating. No separation. HEA
Safety - early on one H brings home a female beta to provoke her jealousy but it doesn’t work. She is starstruck by the beta and dotes on her and is not jealous at all when H implies she’s spending the night. She doesn’t and nothing happens - h is completely unaffected much to his frustration.
Then h gets smitten with a male Beta. He’s not initially part of the mate pack but ends up joining so he’s not really an OM. He helps bridge the gap the Alpha’s had created with their idiocy....more
**spoiler alert** I have been completely useless today and ignored almost every single responsibility I have to read this book. I regret nothing. I ha**spoiler alert** I have been completely useless today and ignored almost every single responsibility I have to read this book. I regret nothing. I have been dying and waiting for this book for over a year and it was worth every agonizing moment
Merged review:
I have been completely useless today and ignored almost every single responsibility I have to read this book. I regret nothing. I have been dying and waiting for this book for over a year and it was worth every agonizing moment...more
**spoiler alert** This is such a trip! I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next at any given moment. Marcus, the H, is definitely in a class of his**spoiler alert** This is such a trip! I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next at any given moment. Marcus, the H, is definitely in a class of his own. He feels similar to some of Sam’s other heroes but he makes some shocking choices here. Honestly, I wasn’t a huge fan of some of his choices but man did they pay off beautifully for him.
By the end you can see how this whole picture came together and it’s a bit mind blowing ...more
**spoiler alert** Well, I read this in one sitting. That used to be my norm but a never ending book slump has changed that big time. Could the cursed **spoiler alert** Well, I read this in one sitting. That used to be my norm but a never ending book slump has changed that big time. Could the cursed slump finally be broken? I think, maybe?! It’s been so long I’m afraid to hope!
This was excruciatingly close to five stars for me. It didn’t quite get there but it got in the ballpark for sure.
Tyrant was crazy posessive and OTT perfect. Seriously. Top notch H. Occasionally his crazy veered into unappealing territory but it was thankfully brief. I don’t want my H to legitimately want to hurt h and he did there for a minute, thankfully he didn’t go there.
Lots of blood play and breeding stuff in here. Some somnophilia too. Tyrant is a grade A stalker.
Unfortunately the heroine is a drag. I rarely dislike heroines but she was really not for me. You’ll understand if you read this.
Ultimately, the way the story is told was also a negative. Chronological order would have been preferred. The chapters long flashback in the middle of the book was obnoxiously placed. Flashbacks- in general - are obnoxious. Just fucking tell it in order.
With different storytelling and H not veering into unpleasant territory this would have been 5 stars even with an annoying heroine. Alas, close is all it can be. Still a great story!
Safe between H/h. No cheating or scenes with others. No om drama. Sorta very mild OW drama
There is an OW who wants H and is meddling about in subtle ways. You don’t even know it’s her till the end and you had no idea throughout. Obviously her attempts are unfruitful....more
**spoiler alert** This book isn’t messing around. It’s short but far from sweet. Given its limited length, the fuckery kicks off fast and furious and **spoiler alert** This book isn’t messing around. It’s short but far from sweet. Given its limited length, the fuckery kicks off fast and furious and maintains its pace.
Overall, it was an entertaining read. On a practical level, Klaus was not my cup of tea. Writing a truly unhinged villainous hero is a delicate task of your end goal is to believe 1. He actually loves the heroine and 2. Will take care of her emotional wellbeing. I’m not sure Klaus is capable of either. He can obviously provide for her physical needs and wellbeing but he shows callous disregard repeatedly for her emotional wellbeing. That dampened my reading experience a bit!
Fast burn, Klaus has been a patient and but he’s done waiting. He claims h around 20% of this novella.
After discovering Layla Simon with my last read (Your Loss) I had to keep going. I liked this one too. Not quite as much a**spoiler alert** 4.25 stars
After discovering Layla Simon with my last read (Your Loss) I had to keep going. I liked this one too. Not quite as much as Your Loss but this was still a very solid read.
So far both the heroes I’ve read from this author start off pretty strong and callous with the heroines feelings. Sebastian has come for revenge and answers from the girl who has betrayed him. Unfortunately for Sebastian his obsession is deeper rooted than punishing Esme. He has feelings for her. He falls first and he does a terrible job of holding onto his ire for her.
Esme has been through some terrible things. She also has feelings for Sebastian so she ends up being pretty forgiving for the intense bullying he subjected her to in the past. The bullying in this one mostly took place pre-book and is only recounted in broad, vague details.
Like the previous Layla Simon book I read the ending is a bit difficult to believe. It’s entertaining though and the villains get what is coming to them.
Fast burn No virgins No manwhore Dubcon No OW drama Some inconsequential OM drama No cheating Brief separation towards the end HEA
Safety - in regards to OW/OM drama and cheating this is pretty safe. The OM is h’s ex that she’s breaking up in the beginning. He doesn’t really play a huge role til near the end when he hurts h.
This does have references to some darker material that happens to h off page before the book starts. Definitely check triggers...more
I think in my history of rating and reviewing books I’ve given a good few 4.5 star ratings but I’ve only bumped the ratings**spoiler alert** 4.5 stars
I think in my history of rating and reviewing books I’ve given a good few 4.5 star ratings but I’ve only bumped the ratings up to 5 stars instead of down to 4 stars twice. I’m a tad stingy with 5 star ratings because I need to be wowed to give them. This felt pretty close to 5 stars but it isn’t just quite there - however it felt wrong to bump down here. I rate based on my enjoyment of the book rather than how “good”it is.
My absolute favorite author in this universe is Sam Mariano and her craft is unparalleled. She somehow writes the exact stories I didn’t even know I wanted or needed. I’ve never read Layla Simon before but there are Sam Mariano vibes here. It’s not with the finesse and polish that Sam has but the framework is there, the idea is there and the vibe. The execution is not quite flawless but I feel the potential here. Some of the setups and situations here don’t feel authentic and my disbelief wasn’t fully suspended and that is largely why I rated it 4.5 stars. The vibe was so reminiscent of Sam’s work in certain places that I really loved the experience anyway. There will be spoilers, likely major ones, beyond this point.
So you’ve got Lachlan (H) and George- short for Georgina (h). H is a gangster’s son, h is the daughter of a pathetic gambling addicted POS. Lachlan is on an errand to collect moneys owed when he crosses paths with George. H is amidst a phone argument with his girlfriend (Kari) who’s canceling a dinner date with his family when H decides he’ll be taking George to the dinner as his date as a sort of FU to his bitchy girlfriend and to clear the debt h’s father owes. George isn’t a huge fan of this plan but has little choice in the matter. A fairly Sam Mariano-esque noncon/dubcon night follows the dinner.
With H having a girlfriend this gave a lot of Even If It Hurts vibes. The girlfriend is awful and h is refreshingly authentic and innocent. The relationship with the unwanted girlfriend is headed toward an arranged marriage and while Kari doesn’t really want Lachlan any more than he wants her she is possessive of him and is sees him as better than her other options outside of marrying him. Kari is not impressed with the George situation, as you can imagine.
Lachlan’s obsession with George starts to grow steadily. He feels an affection for her for being so wildly different than Kari. George is resistant to the relationship which makes Lachlan unhappy. He tries to wrangle her into another dubcon situation and she’s not going along with his expectations. There’s a tense bullying scene that he makes her clean his shoes with her tongue that happens in view of about 15 people. It had some intense sexual overtones. In spite of the humiliating situation h begins to feel guilty for not just being grateful that H took care of these other debts for her father and instead of thanking him she rejected him and thusly followed the bullying punishment. It’s a bit baffling but similar to the thought process of some of Sam’s heroines.
The h goes to apologize and more shenanigans with H follow - which she immediately regrets. He does have a hateful girlfriend who is threatening to hurt her if she doesn’t stay away from H.
We get another flash of Sam Mariano with Lachlan here. He begins a campaign to manipulate h to bend to his will. It’s not nearly as skilled as one of Sam’s master manipulators but it’s pretty good and it, of course, works like a charm.
Once he’s got George where he wants her the story gets a bit dicey. It’s not bad by any means but the ultimate wrap here ends up being a bit too easy - in my opinion. We’re given some high stakes about H having to capitulate to his father and be with Kari and mix in a few other bumps but the wrap up for it was ultimately fairly easily resolved and maybe a bit too pat. We see both Kari and Lachlan’s father acting in ways that aren’t fully in line with what we’ve seen previously. The author does try to justify the behavior change for Lachlan’s father but it didn’t quite feel right and Kari’s character change felt further off to me.
I know this has been pretty spoiler-ish but I didn’t include the specifics of the manipulations and such (there are other spoiler reviews on good reads that definitely have more of those details if you want them too).
⚠️Safety⚠️ - this is safer than it sounds. We know from Lachlan’s thoughts that he feels no affection for Kari. He and Kari did have a sexual relationship that was mostly oral because Kari’s father expected her to be a virgin at their wedding. It’s clear Lachlan slept with whomever he pleased which Kari didn’t like but she couldn’t stop him. I think she also fooled around with others but had to preserve her virginity. She began to push for them to have sex anyway but Lachlan resisted.
From the point that Lachlan met George he didn’t have sexual contact with any other person, including Kari. (He confirms this to h) Kari is still the girlfriend though so they are together at school and he puts his arm around her and such. We are given a couple of instances of “token kisses” that I think are supposed to be like pecks on the lips or something. I didn’t love that.
The h has a platonic date to a formal dance with her friend Keanen under Lachlan’s watchful eye. When a drunk Keanen gets too handsy later Lachlan stabs him....more
**spoiler alert** You can’t win them all. I really liked Brutal Obsession and I loved Devious Obsession so I had higher expectations for this one. It’**spoiler alert** You can’t win them all. I really liked Brutal Obsession and I loved Devious Obsession so I had higher expectations for this one. It’s not a bad read but it just didn’t pack the punch the previous installments in this series carried. I actually thought I might like this one best of all and that’s a bit of a letdown.
I really didn’t enjoy the whole plot line where Knox was making Willow fall for him as a bet. I hated that Willow had a year long relationship with Miles’ brother and fell in love with him. Not to mention the notion that she’d declare her love for the shithead at a party instead of privately. The whole thing felt so contrived.
I think that ultimately the reason I struggled with this one is that I could never understand Miles’ reason for wanting to hurt Willow after his brother humiliated her. Why is she the one being punished in this scenario?
I also hated the flashbacks. I loathe nonlinear storytelling. It breaks the flow of the story and it’s fucking annoying. I just resent them for dragging me out of the present story.
I feel like Miles and Willow’s story didn’t belong in this series. I think they needed a story but this should have been Hockey Gods adjacent. In order to keep up the theme she had going of unapologetic asshole H unfairly punishes submissive h until he falls in love with her - I feel like she twisted things to make them fit instead of giving them an organic story of their own. I’ve seen the author getting some criticism for this being too similar to the previous books which I think is unfair. This is the story we’ve come to expect within the series and I wouldn’t want to read a different kind of story within it. I just wish she’d given Miles and Willow their own platform.
Safety - if you can see past the fact h had a yearlong relationship with H’s brother who then publicly humiliated her for a bet then this is pretty safe. Understandably there’s some OM drama from Knox but neither are interested in each other. Knox is needling his brother. There’s a football player who likes h. Nothing happens aside from him getting his ass kicked by the insanely jealous H. No OW drama at all. No cheating. No separation. HEA....more
**spoiler alert** Read this on impulse when it popped up in an ad. It’s not the worst alien romance I’ve read but it’s pretty meh. There were a few pa**spoiler alert** Read this on impulse when it popped up in an ad. It’s not the worst alien romance I’ve read but it’s pretty meh. There were a few parts I disliked immensely.
There will definitely be spoilers in this review so proceed with caution.
I won’t restate the blurb since you’ve likely read it and it gives a good summation of the premise. Going in I assumed this was going to be the alien taking a “breeder” and keeping her for that purpose but it’s not.
The aliens comes once a year and breed all the 21 year old women and leave. The next year they snatch up the male babies from the last go and breed the new 21 year olds etc. I didn’t love that because I came for a relationship. Luckily, new ground is broken with h.
Kel D’rek is instantly attracted to the angry, defiant h. He doesn’t care that she’s angry with him he just wants to breed. He has to wait 2 years to do this and he’s chomping at the bit. She’s not going to make it easy. She tries to hide but then runs when that doesn’t work. He ends up dry humping her when he catches her and knocks her out so he can take her with him. Charming, eh?
She’s furious when she wakes. The H doesn’t seem to understand why she’s being so obstinate. He vacillates between anger and bewilderment but mostly anger. Luckily for her, he can’t quite bring himself to rape her when she starts crying because he doesn’t understand why it makes him feel uncomfortable. So he sets about negotiating permission.
We see the standard hallmarks of Hs growing obsession with h but not understanding why he feels that way. Aside from orgasms the h doesn’t get much out of their relationship. He’s not cruel mostly but oblivious and it grows irksome to her that he views her and other humans so derisively. She, of course, falls in love with the asshole anyway.
One of the things that turned me off here is the references to her female bits. I understand that as aliens they won’t have the same terminology. I’ve read lots of alien romances over time and I haven’t found any others quite so off putting before. Constant reference to her mammary glands and breeding hole and breeding slit became a big turn off.
Xalthurian females were largely wiped out by a virus but I wouldn’t have been shocked if they all just ran away when they were old enough. It’s obviously a largely patriarchal society but these chicks are not only hold no value for their world but get no pleasure from mating. As far as we know it’s not painful but only the dudes enjoy it.
The death blow for this book for me came near the end when H was angry and enacted a vicious punishment. Looking at this punishment objectively I understand that there are readers who would find this scene very hot and sexy to read but it really, not only turned me completely off, but also knocked a whole star off my rating.
H drugs her by feeding a bunch of berries that will make her unbearably aroused, so much so, that it literally physically hurts to not achieve release. He physically immobilizes her so she can’t move. He brings in this guy that he was jealous she was *talking* to in his absence. He torments and tortures her sexually while she begs him to fuck her and he continuously mocks her and denies her orgasm though she’s in literal pain.
It was just a leap too far for me and tanked the book for me. There would no coming back from it. The H realizes the next day he’s fucked up when she’s seemingly broken. I r do think he hurt her immeasurably but some of her brokenness was clearly acting when she broke character to yell at him during it.
H does become desperate to fix his wrongs but the author duo’s solution was laughably inadequate. He sets himself with the immobilization cuffs and the equivalent of the horny berries and leaves him to her mercy. Oh yes, what a punishment ...more
**spoiler alert** I kept seeing a Facebook ad for this and it finally reeled me in. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the book. It’s ok there were a few pa**spoiler alert** I kept seeing a Facebook ad for this and it finally reeled me in. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the book. It’s ok there were a few parts I enjoyed and a few that turned me off.
Rayne is viewed as defective in the pack because she’s tiny and seemingly doesn’t have a wolf though her mom is definitely shifter. It’s unknown if her dad was human or not but presumed to be so. She’s largely ignored by her fellow packmates but when she is acknowledged it’s always cruel. She mostly called Rayne the Runt through the book. It got really old to me fast.
Wilde, the H, is off at college in the beginning but somewhat purposefully lands himself in legal trouble mostly because he seems to miss pack life.
His dad and therefore h’s stepdad is a huge asshole but mostly harmless. He wasn’t cruel to Rayne just mostly dismissive and oblivious.
Definite spoilers below, in case you’ve changed your mind about wanting spoilers.
When H comes home and h is forced to share space with him is where the story takes off.
Here’s what I liked:
I enjoyed the softer moments between H/h when he wasn’t being a dick. I enjoyed h occasionally tossing attitude and/or surprising people by not being meek when that is what they expected I enjoyed Hs possessiveness and jealousy especially when he didn’t even understand why he acted that way. I liked that H encouraged h to “take up space” instead of trying to be small and unnoticeable.
What I didn’t like:
The H kept up his cruelty for too long The h didn’t hold him accountable for his cruelty AT ALL He made her sleep on the floor, this really bothered me. We get several moments of H feeling guilty internally but ZERO GROVEL - I know some readers are fine with Hs not groveling - just knowing they feel guilty but I am not one of them. This man should begged forgiveness and bend over backwards to make amends but we get nada here. It’s a small thing but I was EXTREMELY turned off by H “popping h’s cherry” with his fingers. It was so off putting to me I nearly DNF’d. The purpose of this was never revealed because when he stuck his dick in her later it still hurt. I don’t know why it icked me out so hard but it did ...more
**spoiler alert** I didn’t dislike Darling Doll but this one definitely has the edge over it. I really loved how focused and determined Preston was to**spoiler alert** I didn’t dislike Darling Doll but this one definitely has the edge over it. I really loved how focused and determined Preston was to have Dolly.
He was manipulative at times. When he’d finally caught her in his web he was determined to keep her, even if it meant holding her captive, literally. He built her the perfect gilded cage. If she’d been all in he’d have given her actual freedom, if she’d wanted to stay.
She was definitely unimpressed with his extreme manwhoring in his high school years. She wouldn’t give agree to stay and marry but she didn’t protest the sex at all. He was super determined to knock her up. He succeeded eventually.
I was going to rate this 4 stars until the mess at the end. She tries to escape. Hits him with the car accidentally. She ends leaving after seeing he’s going to get medical attention. He tells her to go. It was sad. Then she tells her dad and the police raid and he gets shot. She’d come back to tell him.
Of course this is an HEA. She agrees to marry him. They have some awkward encounters with Devlin, Harper, etc.
Book sets us up for Colts story. I’m actually excited. I think it’s probably going to be him & Lo....more
**spoiler alert** If you’ve read the original WHPA series, you know a little bit about Devlin & Dolly. They were supposed to be married. The golden co**spoiler alert** If you’ve read the original WHPA series, you know a little bit about Devlin & Dolly. They were supposed to be married. The golden couple. They didn’t last though. She worshipped the ground Devlin walked on while Devlin had love for her, he didn’t love her. We saw Devlin & Crystal float away into their own HEA.
Preston has always loved Dolly. He knew how clueless Devlin was. He didn’t deserve her. This story gives glimpses of their young childhood. Preston stealing her first kiss. Her struggling with insecurities about Devlin. Preston literally steals her virginity. She thinks it was Devlin until Preston confesses in the wake of Devlin’s disappearance. She leaves town.
So we got new information but this story doesn’t cover any new territory yet. The next book will be Preston claiming her finally.
Definitely not safe. Preston bangs other girls left and right while “waiting” for Dolly. 0% safe read. ...more
**spoiler alert** This series was a wild ride. I’ll give the author props for the journey. Even when things felt predictable in some places it was sti**spoiler alert** This series was a wild ride. I’ll give the author props for the journey. Even when things felt predictable in some places it was still fun to read and she managed to surprise me in several places.
I think the author wrote herself into a spot where redemption is hard to find. In some instances, I wanted to just shake them all. Some of the justifications for Barons behavior were deeply flawed but the author needed to move past it so the h just accepted it. It doesn’t change the fact that she would have never “betrayed” Royal if Baron hadn’t personally placed her in the position to do so and demanded she play along or lose her scholarship. He put a pawn on the board and punished her playing the game he made her play.
Is Royal redeemed? Honestly, no. However, Harper is the one he wronged and he tried to fix it earnestly, even if he stumbled along the way. It’s a lot more than other poorly behaved Hs have done to earn their redemption. So, I’m good. I’m not sure if I can completely buy an HEA because his trust issues didn’t seem resolved. I’m glad they won’t get more books though. Whatever they get up to in other books may eventually hash out their trust problem. ...more